Mail box



J. R. GRAHAM Sept. 13, 1932.

MAIL BOX Filed Dec. 26. 1930 E 6A-4/I4M INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 13, 1932 JennnI RAnAMjoFLInwoon; rowiif MAIL Box:

r-a u peeially such as are adapted for useronrur'al routes. 'Among the objects of this invention are to provide a mailbox whichis so con.- structed that itmay besetback away froml the pavement of countryroads so as to give plenty ofclearance between the pavement and v the mail boxand yet the box isso constructed 33 that for the rural mail carrier to deliver :mail thereto it will not be necessary for him to; drive off from the pavement; to .prov ide a; mail box having sutficientheight to take in most parcel post packages which are sent box;of the type described mean-sgforsupporting packages away from the bottom-of the'box so that in casesnow or rain should getlinto the box, the packageswill be kept out of-contact. "2 5i therewith; and such further objects, advan tagesandcapabilities as willhereafter appear and as-areinherent in the COILStILIGtlOII CllS f closed-herein; My invention fu rther res-ides inc-the.combination,construction and arrange ab ment of, parts illustrated-in the accompany; ing. drawing and,.while I have shown therein what-is now considered the preferred'embodi- 2 mentiofthis-invention,I desire the sameto' be understood as illustrative ionlyand notto 352 be interpreted-ma limiting sense.

ing a part hereof; v a 1 V Figr-l is a planview of the'structure shown in Fig .12,1in which the door is shown} in open 4 position FigzB is a perspective view of my new mail box with the :door closed and-the signal flag" Fig. 5

The present invention relates to improve; mentsl in mall boxes and concerns more es-;

Application fil'ed neeemberzs, 193 02 serial No. 5o4;7o1. l

2-.-2, Fig, 1,-ona-s,omewhat larger. scale} than thatv illustril 'ied'in; saidfig'ure, a

Fig. 6 is a :fragmentarysectionthrough 0116' flangelof the door,=in a plane at a right angle" tothatillustrated by the line ig. 2 and L 55 taken, justinside of the edge of the Vflange Fig. 7 illustrates a hook whereby the post-? 1 man-mayl reach the handle-of the dolorfto au e ope i g the eof v i a a Reference willnow be madein *groeatende-i to tail to the annexed 7 drawing in. which I l k reference characters denotelike parts injthe f several views, Inthifs drawing-themailboxx' isdenoted in generailwby-thenumeral 1 and its legs ,bythe numeralQ; Theidoor 3-is'con l 65 i nected by any suitable}- hinges 4 toi the door: 1 sil-lg5. It is considered desirable {yo-provide a slot 6 coverediby a hinged plate-:7 so th in event, the door is locked whenthepostrnan arrives,he1naydroplettersandismall {parcels- 7G intothe' box rather thanhaving togcarrythemi away, Handle 58 is providedwhereby the" door may be-pulledoutwardly-[to open the? same, and a handle 9 havingaholelOupon one end is used by the postman to engagethe 5 handle 8 on the-door so as to pull the'doon open without the necessity oii driving-golfthe pavement. A lock =11-,.of- :the seltlockin-ga night latch-type "is secured to the inside of: the=doorancl its latch cooperates with-vtlfes fl cross piece 12 extendingacross" the upper'i part of theifrontwofitherboxBand-overhung 7' bythe edgezilii of the box top-which serves as a sortwof'porch for thevdoor to'keepcasf l much as possibleof'themain awayirom thd' 85? i In the'drawinglannexed hereto and formtop edgeofthe doorand thus"reduce: the amount of water getting' int'oi'the looxbetweenthe door. and-the cross piece'12. f Extending upwardly from the overhang l3'rare a-pair a I of lugs l between whichis pivoted'tlre staff '1 Fig.5 2 "is a vertical section substantially alongthe plane indicated by line 22,Fig. l

15 of the flag 1'6'whosepurpose' willbe readily understood. Integral with the staff is'a-hookl 17 which is so bent as'to engage'ithe edgemfw the overhang "13 and prevent the flag rrbm-- v a Y beihg' blownror' jarreddowninto the solid F ig fl is a fragmentary transverse'section through the door taken substantially alongi the plane indicatedby the finest- 4, Fig; 2 is a fragmentary section, substan- 505 tially along-the plane'iindicated-by the line line :position shown in ig; '25. 1 This hook 17-? is of resilient"materi'alrand either integral" with the istaflf' 15'or secured thereto.- 1

" The door 3 is provided at its 'lateraledge's with wide flanges l8extending thr oughout Tie I Adjacent its upper end, the door 3 is pro vided with a pair of casings 23 within which are mounted rollers 2 1. 1 These rollers prOJect through openings in the door 3 and furnish anti-friction means upon' which the slide bars may move and by means ofwhich binding between thes'e'slide bars and the door 3 is reduced-to a minimum, These rollers extend just far enough through the door to prevent contact of the bars-20 with the innerface of the door; V

- A strap is fastened to'the inside of each flange 18, the same being bent into the form illustrated in Fig. '6 for the support of-a pulley 26 mounted upon a pivot 27. The chain 28 passes around the 'pulley26 and inside of the-strap 25 and is secured at one end to the part 22-of the bar 20-,rwhile its other end is so adjustably secured to a-fastening member 29 onthe inside of the box. This provides an adjustment which will be'referred to hereinafter. While Ihave shown the end of strap 25' bent' inwardly to form a stop 30- against which the arml22 may strike to limit the out ward motionof the box 21, this-stop mig'ht be provided in the form of a pin secured to the flange 18. However, the structure illustrated is considered stronger than if a pin were substituted for the projection 30 and it is for this reasonppri marily, that the present structure is preferred;'- However,ease of assembly and cheapness of construction are also considered when deciding upon this construction." It is of icourse understood thatthe strap 25 may be" secured in place either by'means of rivets or byspot welding'or by other suitable means, 7 though the use of spot welding .is' preferred.

3 The ends of the bars 20 are bent inwardly and g downwardly, asillustrated at 31, to support I the letter box 21 away from the flanges 18 far enough rtopermit the box tocome to rest between theupp'er ends-of members 19 when the door is closed." i

If thoughtdesirablethe strap 25 mightbe formed asza complete loop and have the pulley 26 .mounted therein. This strap-may be spotwelded to the flange 18, thus doingaway entirely with passing any rivetsthrough this flange. Such construction would be simpler than that illustrated in the present drawing, inasmuch as the assembly ofthepulley in the loop would be a simple matter and the assembly of this unit upon the flange18 would likewise be, a simple matter. -.-However, I prefer a structure more nearly like that shown I in' Fig. '6. v

The lock 11 has'a latching plunger 32 which engages inside of-the cross piece-12at the Y 7 top of the box. This lock is so constructed that when the latching dog is drawn backinto the look by means'of the key inserted into the key hole 33 it may be fastened back by appro- -priate--manipulation of the handle 34 projecting from the lock 11. When this lever 34 ispulled upwardly,"the latching dog 32 is released and extended outwardly into the posit-ion indicated in Figs. 1 and2. The

,. means for automaticallyreleasing this latch-- ing dog so that the lock will fasten the door after it has been'clo'sed' is the spring'pressed dog 35 which ispivoted on the projection 36 1 3 extending from thebox 21. This dog 35 is so arrangedthat when'the door is closed the dog will slide over the handle 34 without having-- anyeifect upon the lock. On the other hand, 7 when the door-is opened and thebox moves upwardly and outwardly the dog 35 strikes the handle-34 and moves the same upwardly to release the latching dog 32. i Therefore, when the door is again closed, this latchingdog engages beind the cross piece 12 and holds the'door in closed position.

a Supporting means 37 illustrated as a piece of heavy wire netting,-is arranged in thebottom of themailbox to support mail matter away from the box bottom. I Therefore,if any rain orsnow should-get into'the box 'and'col lect on the bottom thereof, thissupporting' means would holdzthe mail upand preventit" from' becoming wet. Ridged reinforcing; strips 38 are preferably secured along the lateral edges of the door'3 in order to render the same more rigid and'less likely to be bent during use; If deemed desirable, the posts-2 may be extended upwardly so as to reinforce thecorners of the box. Since, theseposts are of angle iron construction, it wouldbe neces; sary to make some further changes this construction if the posts at the front corners of the box were to be extended above the bottom of the door I Inasmuch as this is not believed to bean essential change, these changes havenot beenillustrated.

along "the roadside at a; distance from the travelled waywhich'corresp'onds to approx imately four feet from the edge of pa-ve l ment, This distance has been selected in order that the box will be clearly outside of the line of travel unless a vehicle should turn farther to the right of its course of travel than is expected. The box is not, however,"

so far from the roadway that the letter box 21 will not be within easy reach of a vehicle-f In the following description ofthe' op-" u erationof this construction, it will be assumed that the mail box has 'been 's'etsup standing upon the -pavement.- Therefore,

when the postman drives up to the box {and takes hold of the handle .8 with his door sition and the weight of the bars and box 21 suspended on the lower end of chain 28, tends to hold the door 3 closed, even when the latch 32 is not released so as to engage the cross piece 12. As the door is opened, the chains 28' are pulled over the pulleys 26 and this results in extending the bars 20, thus carrying the box 21 out to aposition easy of access to the postman sittingin his vehicle. As the door is opened, the dog 35 engages the projecting arm 34 and pulls it upwardly, releasing the latch 32 so that this is allowed to project into latching position. When the door is again closed the latch 32 snaps "in behind the cross bar 12 and locks the door closed. As the door is being closed, the weight of the box 21 and the bars 20 causes these'to move downwardly so as to permit the door to close, the letter box being entirely within the mail box. I prefer to mount these boxes on suitable slabs of cement or concrete which will be heavy enough to prevent the boxes from being easily turned over but light enough moderately easily moved, if found desirable that they be moved.

It will of course be understood that this specific description of structure set forth above may be departed from without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I

' claim:

- ing a lock for locking the door closed, means for holding the lock in non-locking position, and means for releasing the look when the door is opened so that when the door is closed it will lock.

4. A mail box as set forth in claim 1 having friction reducing means in connection with the door to reduce the friction of the slides as the door is opened and closed.

5. A mail box having a substantially full length door hinged to one side thereof, said door having lateral flanges, casing members mounted on said flanges and forming therewith slideways for slide-bars, slide-bars mounted in said slideways and movable longitudinally therein, a mail container carried by said slide-bars, and means connected to said slide-bars to cause sliding thereof in said slideways and projection ofthe con--- tainer beyond the door when the latter is.

opened. 4

6. A structure as defined by claim 5 having pulleys mounted on the door flanges and in which the means connected to the slidebars comprises flexible means passing over the pulleys to a point of attachment inside the mail box.

7 A mail box comprising, in combination, a packa e receiving container having an open side, a door hinged thereto; to close said side, guideways on the inner face of said door, slides movable in said guideways and carrying a mail receiving box, flexible means sustaining the weight of said slides and box,

the slides and box serving to hold the door closed when closed and'not locked.

In witness whereof,I hereunto subscribe .my name to this specification.

J. R. GRAHAM. 

